The dresses had a little more color, but the National Board of Review’s 2018 Awards gala — honoring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Greta Gerwig, Jordan Peele and “The Post,” among other creators and projects — continued the charged, often political awards-season conversations begun at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7.

NBR’s annual awards ceremony, the winners of which were previously announced, got off to a speedy, focused start, but it didn’t take long for the events of the last year, from #MeToo to the Trump presidency, to come up.

Robert De Niro proved the most direct in his introduction of Meryl Streep, who was picking up the best actress award for her performance in Stephen Spielberg’s “The Post.” De Niro encouraged applause for an off-hand dismissal of Trump. “Let’s clap for that,” he said. “This f—ing idiot is the president. It’s ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’ The guy is a f—ing fool. Come on.” He went on to call the president the “jerk-off in chief.”

“If only Bob wouldn’t hold back,” Streep joked to the tightly packed, starry crowd at midtown Manhattan’s Cipriani 42, before issuing a plea to a Hollywood community grappling with sexual harassment. “How much we really need to trust each other – I don’t want that to go away,” she said. “Because that’s where art lies. Right on the edge.”

Related

Meanwhile, Julianna Margulies put the success of “Wonder Woman” in a wideview lens as she introduced Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins to receive the Spotlight award for the film. “So 2017 was a noteworthy year in our industry, for women especially,” Margulies said. “It was challenging, enlightening and empowering. We found our voices and we spoke up, loud and clear. We found the courage to stand together and initiate a transformation. One of the early indicators of this changing tide was the unprecedented success of a film starring a woman, directed by a woman.”

“Having the film included in an event like this is an incredible honor, and one we realize is not given easily to tentpole films,” Jenkins noted when she got up to the podium.

As an indie horror flick with serious thematic undertones, “Get Out,” which won the NBR’s award for directorial debut, makes for another unusual awards-season candidate — a “cinematic unicorn,” according to Geoffrey Fletcher, the screenwriter who introduced “Get Out” writer-director Jordan Peele.

“I knew this movie was resonating when all of a sudden all white people stopped bring up Obama in conversations with me,” Peele cracked, referring to a memorable scene in his film. “A bit of an overcorrection, but thank you.” Then he got serious: “The fact that we’ve never seen this movie is exactly the reason that it needs to exist.”

Angelina Jolie, sharing the Freedom of Expression award for the movie she directed, “First They Killed My Father,” touched on the Cambodian genocide that is the subject of her film, and also nodded to the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, while addressing why artists and journalists are often targeted by corrupt regimes. “It is because the free sharing of ideas and information is how we hold power accountable to the people,” she said.

Tina Fey, introducing the best actor award for Tom Hanks in “The Post,” kept it political too, but brought some levity. “When I hear the words ‘stable genius,’ I, of course, think of a very smart horse that I once knew. And then I think of Mr. Tom Hanks.” She added, “Tom Hanks is such an American treasure that the president has said it’s official — we’re going to start drilling him for oil.”

Hanks talked about the current-day resonance of the story of “The Post,” which focuses on the Pentagon Papers and freedom of the press. Spielberg, who rushed the movie into production after the presidential election, touched on the same subject. “I really felt this movie had to come out this year,” he said. (The film’s award was introduced by journalist Christiane Amanpour, and accepted by Spielberg with producers Amy Pascal and Kristie Macosko Krieger.)

Earlier in the evening, actors from “Get Out” — including Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams — accepted the award for best ensemble, while Timothée Chalamet, introduced by co-star Armie Hammer as the actor who “burst on the scene like the Kool Aid man through a wall,” went on a few tangents in accepting his breakthrough acting award for “Call Me By Your Name.”

He talked about everything from the history of the NBR to “The Dark Night” to the Meisner technique. (“Two kids will be saying ‘tomato’ to each other, and before you know it everyone’s crying about their dad,” he cracked.) But he ended by talking about the influence that Paul Thomas Anderson films “Punch Drunk Love” and “The Master” had on him.

Anderson was in the house to receive the award for original screenplay for his film “The Phantom Thread,” so Chalamet took the chance to mention how much he’d love to work with Anderson sometime. “I mean, if you want to work, let’s talk,” he said, only half joking. “We’ll make something happen.”

Sign Up for Daily Insider Newsletter

The romantic comedy as we’ve known it may well be on its last legs. There is now a whole generation that sees through its synthetic stylings and princess fakery — and, more than that, feels fundamentally insulted by them. Yet “Isn’t It Romantic,” the beguiling meta version of a kitschy-koo romantic comedy, proves (among other [...]

The 91st Academy Awards are just four days away. This year’s broadcast, the first in decades without a host, should be a memorable one. For once, comic book movies such as “Black Panther” have been invited to the party and the crop of best picture contenders includes a number of blockbusters such as “A Star [...]

Stars party all around Hollywood before, during, and after the Oscars. Here, Variety hits the town to give you the inside scoop on all the star-studded soirées. Keep checking back throughout the weekend for the latest updates… Variety x Armani Beauty Makeup Artistry Dinner Sunset Tower, Los Angeles, Feb. 20Variety and Giorgio Armani Beauty honored makeup artists Molly [...]

“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” is heading back into movie theaters to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the classic comedy film. Trafalgar Releasing took the rights to the film last year. The event cinema specialist is planning a 400-screen release on April 18 that will span the U.K. and U.S. as well as territories [...]

Cohen Media Group has acquired U.S. rights to Safy Nebbou’s “Who You Think I Am,” the critically acclaimed film starring Juliette Binoche which world premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Special Gala section. “Who You Think I Am” turned out to be a hot title among international distributors at the EFM and was sold throughout [...]

Yeun Seung-ro has been appointed as CEO of CGV Mars Entertainment, the Korean-owned company that operates Turkey’s largest cinema chain. He replaces Kwak Dong Won, another veteran of the CJ-CGV group. The change of personnel may reflect two ongoing battles within the Turkish film industry. CJ-CGV, which bought Mars for some $650 million in 2016. [...]

MADRID — Woody Allen is re-teaming with Spain’s Mediapro, one of Europe’s biggest independent film-TV companies, to develop his next film with an eye it seems to shooting in Spain. Mediapro co-financed and co-produced two of Allen’s highest-grossing movies, 2008’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which grossed $96.4 million worldwide, and 2011’s “Midnight in Paris” which earned [...]